Despite the high taste and dietary properties of meat and eggs of guinea fowls, as poultry, they are not particularly popular.
There are some features in their maintenance and breeding, which stop the poultry farmers. One of these features is poorly developed maternal instinct.
At what age do guinea fowl begin to trot?
Usually guinea fowl begin to sweep from 8 months of age. At home, you can achieve and earlier laying. For this it is necessary to provide the bird with a balanced diet. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that guinea fowls do not rush during the winter period.
Did you know? To determine the sex of the hens is quite difficult. Sometimes this becomes possible only after the start of egg-laying.
Is the guinea hen good?
In nature, guinea fowls hatch rather well and nurse young. But at home this is difficult to achieve. This is due to the fact that the bird is very shy and cautious. If it appears to her, that something threatens her, she will immediately leave the nest and begin to rush elsewhere. Any sharp sound or a running cat can frighten her away. 
Maternal instinct in royal hens, held in captivity, is rather weak. They rarely perch, and even less often bring the matter to the end.
Hatching guinea fowl eggs with chickens
You can get young in two ways:
- incubate with an incubator;
- lay eggs under the hen.
Learn how to breed guinea fowls, how to bring guinea fowl in an incubator, how to care for guinea fowl chickens, how to keep guinea fowls with chickens.
Choice of hen
When choosing a hen, one should take into account the fact that the guinea fowl eggs are slightly larger than the chicken eggs and the incubation period is about 7 days longer. Therefore, the hen hen is better to take proven earlier. 
A young, inexperienced wedge can get out of the nest ahead of time. Also consider the size of the chicken - under a larger chicken it will turn out to lay more eggs.
Important! If you choose a turkey as a hen, pay attention to its weight - too large a bird can crush eggs.
Nest preparation
Place the nest should be in a secluded, quiet and warm place. Chicken nothing should distract and disturb her. It is necessary to hang a perch cloth, thereby creating a penumbra. You should not completely obscure the hatching place, as the chicken will perceive it as night and will not get up.
It is advisable to make a nest with high walls, since chickens after hatching are very active and can run away from the hen. And since they are sensitive to cold, they can die.
At the bottom should put a piece of cloth, and better - felt. Top - straw or hay. 
How to plant chicken on guinea fowl eggs
It is best to plant the chicken in the nest from mid-March to June. Due to weather conditions.
Up to 25 guinea fowl eggs can be put under a large chicken. This should be done in the dark, or at the moment when the klusha rose from the nest. It is impossible to lay both guinea fowl and chicken eggs at the same time, since the chicken will rise from the nest after the first chicks hatch.
Care for hen during incubation
Hatching chickens can be entrusted to both the guinea fowls themselves, and the chicken and the turkey. Care for different hens will be almost the same. It is necessary to ensure that food and water are always freely available to them, preferably close to the nest.
Did you know? At the hen, during hatching, the need for food decreases, but the need for drinking increases.
Do not often look into the nest, and even more so to check the eggs. It is necessary to ensure that the hen gets out of the nest at least every other day. If she does not, you need to shoot it yourself. This is done so that the hen does not weaken, because especially responsible individuals sometimes come across. Unfortunately, because of this, they can die right on the nest. 
Do not limit the hen in time when walking - she herself knows when to return. For eggs, short cooling will only benefit. If the hen does not return to the nest for more than 2 hours, then, most likely, she threw it. In this case, it is necessary to collect the eggs and transfer them to a heated incubator.
How many days are sitting on eggs
Guinea fowl sits in the nest much longer than a hen. The incubation period is 26-28 days, while the chicken - 21-23 days. The duration of incubation is also affected by external factors. For example, if the weather is cold outside, the hatching of the hens may begin later.
Incubation of Guinea Fowl Eggs
Rules for selection of guinea fowl eggs for incubation:
- they are collected no longer than 10 days;
- weight is at least 35 g;
- stored at a temperature of 8-10 ° C;
- have the correct form;
- stored upright, with a blunt end up;
- the shell has pigmentation characteristic of this species.
Did you know? At a temperature of 10 ° C, guinea fowl eggs retain food suitability for 6 months.
Before laying, you should check the eggs on the ovoskop to ensure the integrity of the shell. If you do not have such a device, you can use a flashlight. If severe contamination is present, it must be cleaned with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. 
Eggs should be placed in a pre-heated incubator. The incubation mode should be the same as for chickens, the difference is only in the incubation period. Guinea fowl are born on the 28th day.
Important! On the first day, the temperature in the incubator is set at 38.1 ° C. This is done in order to warm the eggs as quickly as possible.
When incubating, it is necessary to adhere to the regime indicated in the table:
| Incubation time, days | Temperature, ° С | Humidity,% | Airing, min. | Coup |
| 1-2 | 37,8-38 | 65 | missing | every 4 hours |
| 3-14 | 37,6 | 60 | 5 | 4 times a day |
| 15-24 | 37,5 | 50-55 | 8-10 | 2 times a day |
| 25 | 37,5 | 50 | 10 | 2 times a day |
| 26-28 | 37,0-37,2 | 68-70 | missing | missing |
When you roll the eggs, you need to change their places: those that lie on the edges, put in the center, and vice versa. This is done in order to ensure their uniform heating.
Learn how to maintain and how to feed guinea fowl in the winter, how to feed guinea fowl at home, how to keep guinea fowl in cages.Subject to all the rules, the first sound will start on the 26th day of incubation. Hatching chickens should be allowed to dry in an incubator. After that you should move them to a brooder or a previously prepared box with a heating pad or a lamp.
To get young guinea fowl from their livestock is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. For these purposes, you can use a hen (chicken, turkey) or an incubator. The first option is preferable, because the quiver will protect and heat the hatched chicks.Learn how to trim the wings of guinea fowls, how to make a nest for guinea fowls, when and how many eggs a guinea fowl bears.If it is possible to create conditions close to the natural habitat, then there is a rather high probability that the guinea fowl, despite the weak incubation instinct, will itself produce offspring. One way or another, each poultry farmer must choose for himself the best way, based on personal experience.
Broiler guinea fowls try to hatch eggs: video
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